His interest in communication started early with ham radio

June 03, 2007| STEPHANIE MIDDAUGH Truth Correspondent

ELKHART -- Gene Crusie was a wireless communication entrepreneur even before he grasped the concept. At age 11, he earned his ham radio license and used advanced radio equipment to communicate with friends and other amateur operators. Now he leads one of the nation's leaders in wireless technology. "It's incredible how you can take information, package it into radio waves and shoot it across the air to create something useful. We're doing the same thing today with wireless Internet, just the speed and quality has improved," Crusie said. MapleNet Wireless is a full service provider of wireless systems for schools, hospitals, manufacturers, rural utilities and governments throughout the world -- recently completing systems in Africa and Dubai. Crusie attributes his company's success to being one of the first in the area to offer wireless Internet. "We were a pioneer in the late 1990s," he said. When a customer needed to connect with someone 6 miles away, Crusie "followed up on the technology and grew our business." Early on, the business "vacillated between manufacturing systems ourselves or becoming a reseller, because there was a hole in the market at the time," he added. However, it didn't take long for the big guys to develop similar technology. "Although we're mainly a reseller today, we still manufacture some small items that differentiate us from others in the market," he said. "For example, we found a way to integrate the radio into our antennas, so only a cable runs inside a customer's facility. Since we're smaller, we can be more flexible." Crusie believes education and training has kept him one link ahead of his competition. "We send our technicians to training meetings several times a year," he said. MapleNet Wireless staff regularly attend national trade shows to scope out industry developments. "Many wireless companies come and go, but our growth has come from providing high-quality products and the highest installation practices and standards," Crusie said.